Stranded
by AquilaMage
Summary: Maya takes a wrong turn in an unfamiliar building on campus that leaves her stranded on the rooftop. Fortunately, the meeting she has with her rescuer more than makes up for it. (Companion to "The Unexpected Benefits of an 8am")


Maya wrings her hands together as she paces the edge of the small area again, cursing under her breath with every bit of numbness that she can feel seeping in from the late January weather. Really, whoever designed the technology building was at fault for this, making the upper floors into separate sections, adding twisting hallways with rooms that were _not_ in order of their actual numbers, they were just asking for students to get lost.

Of course, the real prize went to whoever decided not only to leave the door to the roof unlabeled and unlocked, so that any hapless freshman could just walk through it, thinking it might lead to their class (not that Maya had really fallen for it, she had meant to go up here, of course), but also had it set to lock _from the outside_. As if they had an issue with too many birds trying to break in and steal the paints, or something. At this point, she would welcome a few birds, she thinks. She could at least try to get one of them to send a message and get help.

Her train of thought is interrupted by the sight of a person walking by, the first in at least five of the fifteen-ish minutes she's been up here. She could try yelling, but four stories up is a pretty high gamble, considering. So she doesn't even bother diving for her bag, instead yanking off one of her boots as she stumbles over to the ledge. Fortunately, her aim is good, landing it a couple feet in front of them on the edge of the sidewalk.

The woman skids to a halt, dropping to a crouch with her arms up as her head swings back and forth in search of the source of it.

Maya shakes her head. Leaning as far as she dares over the edge, most of her torso hanging over and supported by her hands against the top, she yells. "Hey! Up here!"

No response, and her attention seems to be on the verge of being lost, so Maya rolls her eyes and tosses the other boot.

It practically hits her, but she manages to jump to the side in time. There's a pause, and a tense moment before she looks up, gaze finally seeming to lock onto her. It's hard to see her expression, but the way she holds her hands in front of her appears to be in questioning.

Maya has nothing to say to that, even if it would really work. Instead, she gives an exaggerated shrug.

She tilts her head to the side, contemplating, and Maya considers taking that moment to rush over to her bag to see if they could at least try writing very large notes to communicate, but she's still a bit afraid of losing her potential savior.

The woman takes a few steps away, then tosses her bag into the grass before marching over to a section of the building where ornamental carvings had been made into the stone. She stretches her arms, and then proceeds to make a running jump to grab onto a small ledge curving around the building.

Not able to believe what she's seeing, Maya stands transfixed, not even noticing the cold as she watches this woman climb the freaking building, slowly but with little apparent difficulty.

She pulls herself up not far from where Maya is standing by basically flipping over the edge and wow is dizziness a symptom of cold exposure or is that just to be expected watching her pull her hair back from where it had fallen in front of her face.

"So what kind of party do we have going on up here?" She asks, beaming as though this type of occurrence is normal for her. Maybe it is, and somewhere in the building is a secret entrance to a different world where cute girls with mild forms of superpowers are a dime a dozen. Her expression falters for a second, but then she sticks her hand out with another smile. "I'm Kay, by the way."

"Maya," she manages. She's pretty sure _her_ hand manages to be sweatier as they shake, but at least she's not weirding her out, it seems. "I'm…kind of stuck up here."

Her laugh is deep and perhaps a bit louder than proper, but it suits her well. "What, you broke onto the roof but couldn't get break out?"

She frowns, crossing her arms. "It's only locked from this side."

"Oh, weird." Kay troops over to the door, squatting to be at eye level with the handle. "Is the other side a crash bar? The kind you push open."

"Yeah…?"

Sticking her hand into the pocket of her long coat, she brings out a pair of hair pins, which she proceeds to bend into different shapes. She pauses with her hands hovering a few inches from the lock. "If I do this, you're not going to…?"

"Absolutely not!" Maya puts her hands on her hips, answering with what she is now realizing is probably more enthusiasm than most people would find necessary but totally worth it because she gives another small laugh before turning back to the door. Leaning over her, Maya watches with interest. "You know how to do this?"

"Yup! My one dad is kind of paranoid about security, so I know a lot about that kind of thing. Made me promise I wouldn't abuse it before he taught me this, but he wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to worry about being stuck somewhere."

She fiddles with the pins for a couple of minutes, a really cute pout (objectively speaking) on her face as she does so. Then, she heaves a sigh and plops down with her back to the door. "I think the lock's a bit too small for these to maneuver properly, and I don't have my lockpicking set with me; it's not illegal to own them, but having them on a college campus could be a little…" She waves one hand. "You know."

Maya sits down next to her. "Well that sucks. What now?"

"I climb back down and try to go around from the inside, I guess." Pushing to her feet, she makes her way back to the edge. She wilts, however, after looking down. "That's not great."

It turns out to be a small group of people, all standing pretty much right underneath them, clustered around one person who appears to be speaking to them.

"Tour group?"

Kay groans. "There's an open house today. Who visits colleges at this time of year anyway?" She spins around and lean-sits on the wall, pulling out her phone. "And after what happened in the gym last semester, I am not starting this one off getting caught climbing buildings."

"What happened in the gym?" Maya follows her over, although she opts to sit on the ground, head leaning against the stone.

She types at the screen as she speaks. "There may have been an incident with some martial arts practice equipment and a couple of obnoxious athlete guys that resulted in me getting banned from there for a month. Totally not my fault."

A few minutes pass, and she's checking her phone every so often she might as well not bother putting it back into her pocket. "Come on, Seb, I know you don't have class right now." She shakes it, only just catching the phone before it flies out of her grasp. "Ugh." Holding it up to her ear, she shoots Maya a tense smile that turns to an outright grimace. "He's not picking up, I don't know what he's doing right now. And of course Ema's got a lab starting just now." She drops her arm to her side, sighing. "You don't have anyone to contact, do you?"

Maya shrinks a little. "I may have left my phone in my room."

Her expression softens. "Nah, it's totally fine, not like you were planning on this. But," she stands, offering a hand to help her up. "If we're going to have to wait, we should probably sit a bit more shielded from the wind."

As Maya settles down in the corner next to where she left her bag, Kay winces. "Oh right, you took off your shoes."

"It's fine!" As adorable as the look of concern on her face is right now, Maya still doesn't want her to worry about her. "Where I grew up was way colder than this, so I'm used to it."

Kay frowns, and then without another word shrugs her coat off, then crosses her arms to pull the sweatshirt she's wearing underneath off over her head.

Squeaking, Maya goes to cover her eyes before realizing that she's also wearing a tank top under that. And wow, her arms are nice. Like, really nice. Her gaze flickers over a gold bracelet and a patch of scars across her forearm, but what Maya finds herself fixated on is the obvious muscle definition as she moves. Which is interrupted when Kay launches the sweatshirt in her direction.

"Here," she says as she zips her coat back around herself. "Should at least keep you comfortable until we can get down." And as she drops next to her, "Plus if we huddle, that'll also retain body heat." She freezes up for a second. "As long as that's okay with you, of course."

It's said a little higher than her usual voice, and it's the relief that maybe she's not the only one who's flustered that gives Maya the confidence to nod and pat the ground next to her.

Kay slides over to her, hesitates, then leans over her a little to examine her bag. "Is that a Pink Princess keychain?"

"Yup. Limited edition that my friend got me for my birthday."

"_Cool_. I like the show, but kind of lost interest after the time travel arc. I know most people say it's one of the best parts, but I couldn't stand how they wrote out her companion, especially since it was _obvious_ she had a crush on the Pink Princess."

Maya gasps deeply, putting a hand on Kay's knee as she practically vibrates with excitement. "They switched writers for the newest season," she says in a low voice, leaning in. "She just came back a couple episodes ago, and the actors hinted that they're planning on actually touching on that."

The huge squeal Kay makes in response makes her heart swell, and even more so the way she reaches over and grabs both her hands in her own. "Tell me _everything_."

They're deep in a discussion of the show when Kay's phone chimes. She disentangles (when they got like that in the first place, Maya's not 100% sure) to retrieve it. "Oh, looks like I missed some from earlier." As she reads, her eyebrows raise increasingly far up her forehead. Sighing, she tilts the screen so Maya can read.

_3:26 PM_

**Sebastian:** What do you mean you're on the roof? You promised not to get in trouble until at least the third week of classes!

Also I think this guy is flirting with me O.O

He passed me in the hall a while ago and now he's in the doorway asking me about my opinion on these random composers!

HES ACTUALLY REALLY PRETTY HELP

o/o how do I even answer abou

_4:12 PM_

**Sebastian:** he saw me and I panicked and locked my phone sorry ;o;

Doesn't the event only last until four?

youre not answering are you alright /0.0\

KAY I KNOW YOURE READING THIS ANSWER ME

She sighs. "He gets a little worked up sometimes." Typing out a response, she gets to her feet, stopping at the edge again. A quick look over, and she drops her phone back into her pocket before swinging one leg over the barrier. "I'll be like, ten minutes? Do you know how you got up here?"

Maya does her best to explain her route, and then Kay's scrambling down and, making a detour to collect her bag and Maya's shoes, in the nearest door. It's probably a little closer to fifteen, but soon enough Kay has burst through the door, careful to keep her body inside with one leg propping it open. "You called?"

She darts in, letting out a huge sigh as the warmth of the building seeps into her body. Turning back to Kay, who is now leaning against the wall and watching her with a smile, she holds up the sweatshirt. "This is, uh, I believe this is yours."

Grinning, she wraps it around her neck, then offers her boots. "And these belong to you. Try not to lose them again?"

Maya looks up at her as she sits to put them back on. "I don't know, I might need to if I get trapped again. Dire situations and all that."

"Well, we can't have that." Kay laughs. She puts her hand to her chin, then nods. "You know what? _You_ should take my number. That way, if you do find yourself on any more rooftops, you have someone to call." Holding out a hand to pull her up, she winks. "Or, you know, if you need anything else."

She _thinks_ she only blushes a little at that. "I would, but I think I did mention not having my phone on me." Seeing Kay frown, she adds, "But I can give you mine, and if you text me, I'll still have it."

Kay practically scrambles to retrieve her phone, beaming as she holds it out. When it's returned to her, she clasps it to her chest. "Well, it was rather fun, all things being said. But hopefully our next meeting will be somewhere a bit less stressful."

"I'd like that," she says quietly.

They head outside in quiet thought, and exchange a nod and a smile before heading their respective ways.

Maya's head spins the entire route back to her dorm, and she flops down onto her bed still dressed in everything but her shoes. She's almost dozing off the moment she hits the comforter, but then she remembers and her head shoots up. Snatching her phone from its spot on her dresser, she checks the display. From an unknown number, there is a series of texts.

_4:41 PM_

**?:** hi maya this is kay! text me back so i make sure i got the right number

_4:50 PM_

**?:** dont get lost on the way ok

She laughs, then types a response.

_5:07 PM_

**Maya:** In my room rn. Did not get lost at all

**Kay:** yay!

get some rest and warm up

also

ive got seb in my room kind of freaking out right now and besides we did have plans for the evening

but if you werent doing anything

we could have lunch tomorrow

if you wanted

**Maya: **YES yes I would love to

**Kay:** ok then

it's a date ;)

Maya smiles to herself. She rereads the thread even as her eyes droop shut, lulled asleep with the memory of Kay's laughter playing in her mind.


End file.
